In their recent article [1], Dupont and Voth characterize harm reduction as “a creative renaming” of the “dismantling of legal restrictions against the use and sale of drugs.” This is a fundamental misconception of harm reduction as we understand it [2-4]. Indeed, within the harm-reduction perspective, “civil and criminal laws are seen as potent tools” [4] for reducing drug-related harm.

DuPont and Voth apparently view drug policy as a dichotomous choice between “two opposing policy options”: prohibition and legalization. In our understanding of harm reduction, the intellectual power of the concept comes precisely from its potential to transcend the old “legalization versus prohibition” debate [3]. Consider the following prototypes of harm-reduction programs: